Now released - The Tesco Value Kettle mark II

[BigYin]

Following on from my original How To on the Tesco Value kettle (http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=9899) the design of the value kettle sold by Tesco has changed.

I recently had to replace the elements in my boiler and so that seemed like the perfect opportunity to revamp the How To.

If you read the first guide there was a bit of wiring required, but the good news with the new kettle is the wiring is restricted to the power supply - thankyou Tesco!!

So, this guide is all about how to butcher a perfectly good and cheap (£6 at the time of writing) kettle and use the kettle element and power lead in your home brew boiler.

Tools :

Phillips screw driver
Needle nose pliers
Wire cutters
Hack saw
Soldering Iron & Solder
electrical insulating tape

** DISCLAIMER ** Electricity and water are a DANGEROUS mix - Please understand a few important points - I - and the Homebrew Forum - will NOT be held responsible if you electrocute yourself!!!

Take your time, take care, never leave your boiler unattended when it's on - of it boils over it could create a dangerous short!!!!

Now, onto the build :mrgreen:

First, remove the two screws at the base of the handle :

Then remove the two screws at the top of the handle :

Then pull the base of the handle away from the body of the kettle, and it should unclip, removing the outer part of the handle and the lid.

Undo the two screws securing the switch:

Then insert a screwdriver between the switch and the housing, give a little twist and remove the switch.

The wires for the little light pass through the switch base, I just cut through the easiest part of the switch base with some wire cutters, being careful not to catch the wire

then manoeuvre the wires through the cuts - this took a little bit of bending of the plastic rather than placing any stress on the thin wires.

With the switch assembly all out of the way, remove the 3 screws holding the element to its socket

pop the silicone seal out of the kettle body, and that's all the useful bits removed from the carcass of the kettle.

The frame that held the switch (and has a bi-metalic disc that is meant to switch the kettle off once it reaches the boil) can be removed with a hacksaw.

Now, onto the base

Lever the plastic cover off - it's just held on by two little clips - it snaps off pretty easy

Pull off the wires

Open up the connectors and get them on to the element socket

Now, it's up to you how to connect the power cable to the element socket.

1. - solder the wires directly to the pins on the socket
2. - use locking crimp connectors to connect the wires directly to the pins
3. - use a suitable euro plug that will push onto the pins (make sure it's suitable for both the current draw and the heat)


I prefer option 1 - solder them on - it's the cheapest (assuming you already have a suitable soldering iron!) and it's pretty permanent.

and insulate them with electrical insulating tape - or better still, use proper heat shrink insulation

Bend up the little plate so it'll still be touching the back of the element - this needs to be bent out of shape, or it will 'pop' back at boiling point and turn the element off.

Now, to the boiler....

You will need to drill a neat 38mm hole centred approx 6cm above the base of the boiler - Note that the height is up to you! I put mine at this height to allow the hop filter to fit underneath, and to keep a little distance between a hot element and the plastic base of the boiler...

Fit the silicon seal into the element hole, offer up the element from inside the boiler and attach the socket to it with the 3 screws.

Fill the boiler with cold water and check for leaks. If you see any leaks, empty the boiler, check the hole is smooth, and make sure you tighten up the element properly.

Time to test the element -

Cover up the electrics with something - I've used bits of tube from an old silicon bathroom sealant - fits nicely and it's free :mrgreen:

And finally, test! - Make sure not only that it will reach the boil, but also that it'll maintain it - if it cuts out it's most likely that pesky little metal disc not bent up enough.

 

[EskiBrew]

Very good, I must have missed seeing the first one :wha:

A few minor points:

1) The fuse should be removed from the plug before beginning - I have experience of people dismantling things like this then get called away and in the meantime someone else comes along and plugs it in which then causes lives wires! Remove the fuse first then this cannot cause a hazard.
2) The LED is not an LED, it's a neon light.
3) It would be much better to use heat-shrink tubing instead of electrical insulation tape because the tape can come off when the adhesive gets warm. Heat-shrink tubing will not do that, if it gets warm, it will simply try and shrink on tighter. It can be purchased very cheaply on eBay.

 

[Vossy1]

Nice work BY :thumb:

3) It would be much better to use heat-shrink tubing instead of electrical insulation tape because the tape can come off when the adhesive gets warm. Heat-shrink tubing will not do that, if it gets warm, it will simply try and shrink on tighter. It can be purchased very cheaply on eBay.

Wouldn't that mean removing the spade end terminals to get the shrink tube on, or can the shrink tube be sliced down the middle and slipped on leaving the terminals in place :hmm:

 

[EskiBrew]

Wouldn't that mean removing the spade end terminals to get the shrink tube on, or can the shrink tube be sliced down the middle and slipped on leaving the terminals in place :hmm:

No, you get stuff that is large enough to go over those but with a shrink ratio that is high so it will shrink down to the cable size. If you sliced the heat shrink, it would no longer work.

 

[Vossy1]

Ahh, righty ho M I didn't realise you could get it that sort of ratio, I'm guessing 10mm to 3mm ish. I use it a lot in fishing so pigeon knowledge :lol:

 

[BigYin]

1) The fuse should be removed from the plug before beginning - I have experience of people dismantling things like this then get called away and in the meantime someone else comes along and plugs it in which then causes lives wires! Remove the fuse first then this cannot cause a hazard.
2) The LED is not an LED, it's a neon light.
3) It would be much better to use heat-shrink tubing instead of electrical insulation tape because the tape can come off when the adhesive gets warm. Heat-shrink tubing will not do that, if it gets warm, it will simply try and shrink on tighter. It can be purchased very cheaply on eBay.

Thanks Martin :

1. - there's safety, and then there's safety - everything's in bits right up until the last gasp, so I genuinely cannot see how anyone could possibly plug it in by mistake - we're not talking dishwasher/washing machine stuff here :hmm:

2. fair enough, I'll change it to stop any pedants having a go :whistle: :mrgreen:

3. Would be good to have a link to something suitable since I've not used it in the how to :hmm:

 

[Vossy1]

3. Would be good to have a link to something suitable since I've not used it in the how to

How wide is the spade end BY?

 

[BigYin]

hmm.. no more than 5mm I'd say...

More importantly, it'd need to fit over the spade connectors while they are in place over the socket pins, and they are reasonably chunky :hmm:

 

[Vossy1]

Sorry BY, I meant how wide are the female spade end terminals on the wiring as that's the widest part to get over :hmm:

 

[BigYin]

Thought that's what you meant mate - they are around 5 mm - BUT - once they are bent out of shape a bit, and then soldered onto the pins, the diameter the shrink wrap would have to be pushed over to cover the pin and the connector might have increased thanks to the solder :hmm:

 

[Vossy1]

this stuff is 3:1 but you'll need to measure the cable diameter and spade end/soldered joint to chose the right one. Folk don't need to solder the joint though, do they :hmm:

EDIT, see it now :thumb: I wonder if locking terminals would be any good, they're used in things like washing machines but I don't know enough about them :hmm: M might know

 

[Vossy1]

Locking spade ends like these

 

[BigYin]

I might just change the text a little bit to point out that this just one way of sorting the wiring - I don't really want to try and cover every possible way of doing this - I basically set out to do it at minimal cost, hence making the whole thing from plug to element out of the parts from the kettle.

I know others that posted on the original thread have chosen to use hot condition euro plugs from Maplin rather than permanently fix the wires on - and if you only have a standard soldering iron, it may well never manage to heat up that mass of metal sufficiently to melt the solder...

I'm content to keep the How To as a kind of core fundamentals of using the tesco value kettle, and let others play around with their own way of doing it :drink:

 

[Vossy1]

I'm content to keep the How To as a kind of core fundamentals of using the tesco value kettle, and let others play around with their own way of doing it

Fair doo's
It was just as I read it I thought, most folk don't have a soldering iron so is there an easy alternative...just the way I work :grin:

 

[BigYin]

Good point buddy - I'm well tooled up - the soldering iron in the picture is a gas powered on, set to full blast on mini blowtorch mode :lol: Bet the VAST majority of people don't have one of those :whistle:

I will have a think and see what I can come up with :thumb:

 

[calumscott]

Nice how to BY and great pics!

My tuppenceworth...

a) "The wires for the little light pass through the switch base, I just cut through the easiest part with some wire cutters." - As I read that I thought "cut through the wires" not cut through the plastic to get the wires free.
b) It's silicone not silicon, the pedantic police will be on to you...

 

[BigYin]

I've done some editing - incorporated some alternative cable connection methods, sorted the silicone spelling, and cleared up what I was cutting on the switch case :thumb:

 

[EskiBrew]

Looks good :thumb:

I wonder if locking terminals would be any good, they're used in things like washing machines but I don't know enough about them :hmm: M might know

The locking lucas style connectors are designed to mate with a spade that has a small hole for the lock tab to drop in to. That would not work in this case so they would just be push on. Since the cable has a strain relief fitted, the only drawback in this is that if the press fit is not tight enough, the joint can get hot which could potentially lead to fire. Soldering is therefore the best solution.

An alternative option that might be feasible is to use a choc-block connector (cut into individual sections) so that it can be secured to the terminal with a screw - the wire going into the other end and also screwed. We're probably getting into too much details here though

 

[BigYin]

Appendix

Looking after your kettle elements


After a brew day, and an hour and a half of boiling sweet sticky wort, the elements will have lost all their gleam and look all furry

I give them a generous dose of citric acid and fill up with hot water to just above the elements

I get the citric acid in 1kg amounts, usually through ebay or amazon - search for Citric Acid 1kg, I'd recommend getting food grade - e.g http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AP09SSK/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Leave 10 mins or more, swift brush over with a nylon kitchen brush, and nice clean elements again :mrgreen:

 

[Vossy1]

:thumb: